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The reconstructed “Adler Pharmacy symbolises the ever-changing history of this house at the Hühnermarkt, which in 1662 was already home to a pharmacy. In 1857, an Italian chocolate maker commissioned by the son of the apothecary produced the very first chocolate bars in Germany. At that time, cocoa and chocolate were still mainly sold in pharmacies, as chocolate was considered to be a tonic and a remedy.

The old “Adler Pharmacy” also sold chocolate pastilles and suppositories made of cocoa butter. The Delft tile painting above the door shows the fleet of the Dutch East Indies Company, V.O.C. Founded in 1602, this trading company operated until 1795, transporting, among many other commodities, spices and tea to Europe, goods which were also retailed through pharmacies.  The pharmacy equipment includes mortars, scales and medicine containers from the 17th to 19^th centuries, and a precision pendulum clock. This 24-hour clock with a calendar, signs of the zodiac, and positions of the sun and the moon tells the time with a daily divergence of only 2-3 seconds. The clock face, with the signature “Joh. Schmits, Horloger A Aix la Chapelle” is a reminder of Aachen’s French era. The paintings show the most prominent occupants of the house: Johann Peter Josef Monheim and his wife Lucia Dorothea. The ceiling depicts Apollo and Luna, sun god and moon goddess, together with Aesculapius, the god of medicine, supervising the correct dosage of the remedies.